Film Review: The Jungle Book

Spectacular visuals and a welcome dose of humour are at the heart of the appeal of this wonderful family adventure. Jungle Book, its cannily star-studded voice cast aside, never loses sight of its target audience: that is children, looking to enjoy the wildness of the jungle, the fun of Mowgli’s furry friends, and the fear of growing up and having to become a man.
Director Jon Favreau is at the helm of this adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s endlessly charming tale. He has an impressive track record, having wooed children and adults alike with Elf; honed his skill for visual flash and adventure in Iron Man; and successfully celebrated indie artistry with Chef.
Newcomer Neel Sethi plays ten-year-old Mowgli, who has been lovingly raised by the wolf couple, Rashka (Lupita Nyong’o) and Akela (Giancarlo Esposito) – though Mowgli’s increasing desire to create and build food-snaring inventions is separating him from the pack.
When he catches the hungry eye of bullying Bengal tiger Shere Khan (Idris Elba), paternal panther Bagheera (Ben Kingsley) tries to lead him back to a human village, but they get side-tracked successively by Bill Murray’s lazy bear Baloo, Christopher Walken’s egomaniac orangutan King Louis and a series of surprise attacks by an increasingly vicious Shere Khan.
Throughout, Favreau blends aspects of Kipling’s story, and Disney’s animated version, with Justin Mark’s delightfully witty screenplay. Bill Murray’s charming chancer of a bear is cheeky and lazy, and his relationship with Mowgli is warm and playful, nicely contrasting with Kingsley’s exasperated guardian role. Knowing not to make the story too dark or serious for children, the well placed jokes play nicely off the more exciting and scary sequences, including Mowgli’s daring escape from Shere Khan through a stampede of buffalo – a scene directly taken from The Lion King, but no less thrilling for it.  
Favreau’s adherence to the musical aspects of Disney’s animated version is the one aspect of the film that is open to question. Gameful renditions of ‘Bare Necessities’ and ‘I Wanna Be Like You’ don’t quite gel with the film’s tone – or indeed with its otherwise dramatic score. And though Christopher Walken is a cinematic treasure, he should never be entrusted to hold a tune, let alone one previously sung by Louis Prima!
No matter. The visuals are incredible, and the hyper-realistic animals are given just the right amount of personality to emote, without ever becoming cartoonish. Meanwhile, Sethi’s movements are endearingly mischievous and animal-like, as he reflects the utter joy of a boy getting to climb trees, swing on vines and make pretend with imaginary animals.
A luscious family treat. See it.